Hazy Titan and little Dione pass in front of Saturn’s ringsNASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute By John Wenz Peculiar crystals could be abundant on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, potentially creating environments where microbes could live. Morgan Cable at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and her colleagues simulated Titan’s methane rain and ethane flooding, and found that a salt-like compound formed quickly and stuck around, even after being repeatedly washed over. This suggests that the chemical slurry on the surface could create a “co-crystal”. But rather than salt composed of sodium…

WASHINGTON — Members of the House space subcommittee raised concerns about elements of NASA’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal during a March 7 hearing, from the cancellation of a space telescope to restructuring of the agency’s technology programs. At the hearing by the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot defended the budget proposal released last month, arguing that it supports human spaceflight efforts as well as science and aeronautics. “I think we still have a very balanced budget when you look across the multi-mission…

These mountains may be a fallen ring of debrisNASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute By James Romero Saturn’s moon Iapetus resembles a walnut, with a ridge 20 kilometres high running around its center. A new model suggests it could be made of rubble from the collapse of a former ring. And data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft could confirm it. Iapetus’ mountain range runs 1400 kilometres around the equator of the tiny moon. Scaled to Earth proportions, its peaks would reach over 100 kilometres high. Astronomers initially thought internal geological processes could have pushed…

Could the methane we’ve detected on Enceladus be signs of life?NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute By Andy Coghlan Microbes that produce methane may already be living on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn which is tipped to host life because it boasts a liquid water ocean beneath a crust of solid ice, and strange atmospheric plumes of water. That’s the implication of research showing that an earthbound organism which also produces methane can happily survive in conditions known to exist on Enceladus, from observations by the Cassini space probe before its mission ended…

Two lunar missions have found that water on the moon is widely distributed and not confined to a particular region. The discovery builds on that from last August when scientists at Brown University discovered huge pockets of sub-surface water. At the time they wrote: The nearly ubiquitous presence of water in large and small lunar pyroclastic deposits adds to the growing evidence that the lunar mantle is an important reservoir of water.” However, new research has found that almost all of the Moon could be covered in water, which could…

Scientists have discovered that water, or its relative hydroxyl, may be widely distributed across the surface of the moon—contradicting earlier research placing it mostly at the poles. If moon water is widespread and easily accessible, explorers could use it for drinking water, oxygen or even rocket fuel. “When you split water molecules, you end up with oxygen and hydrogen, critical components for breathable air and rocket fuel” explained Michael Poston, a Southwest Research Institute scientist and co-author of the research, in a statement. Trending: Syria: Russia Orders Daily Ceasefire in…

The Air Force Research Laboratory is interested in private-sector proposals on innovative space technologies, from launch, payload adapters, on-orbit systems, communications links, ground systems and user equipment. Submissions are due April 9. WASHINGTON — The space-focused branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory is seeking proposals from the private sector “to advance the technology and scientific knowledge supporting all aspects of space systems,” said a solicitation posted Feb. 23. The request from the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate comes as U.S. Air Force senior leaders continue to push for faster technological…